LATAM Airlines Sydney to Auckland flight: 50 people treated after mid-air incident

People "flew through the cabin" after an incident on board a flight to Auckland that left blood on the plane's ceiling, a person seriously injured, and saw 50 treated by Hato Hone St John Ambulance.

LATAM Airlines Group said flight LA800 had a "technical problem during the flight which caused a strong movement" on its way from Sydney to Auckland.

Were you on the flight? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz.

"Some passengers and cabin crew were affected. They received immediate assistance and were evaluated or treated by medical staff at the airport as needed."

A passenger on board the flight, who gave his name as Jacinto, said there was a "mid-air drop" that affected multiple passengers.

"People flew through the cabin," he said.

"People got pretty injured."

A number of passengers were not wearing their seatbelts at the time, he said.

"People were really scared as well."

'People just started screaming'

Passenger Brian Jokat said the plane "just dropped" about two-thirds of the way through the flight.

"There was no pre-turbulence, we were just sailing smoothly the whole way," he said.

"I had just dozed off and I luckily had my seatbelt on, and all of a sudden the plane just dropped.

"It wasn't one of those things where you hit turbulence and you drop a few times ... we just dropped."

A passenger two seats away from him was not wearing his seatbelt, and flew up and hit the ceiling, Jokat said.

"I thought I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and he was on the roof of the plane on his back, looking down on me. It was like The Exorcist."

The man then fell back to the floor, breaking his ribs on his arm rest, Jokat said.

Three or four other people had hit the ceiling too, breaking some of the plane's interior with their heads and shoulders, he said.

"Then people just started screaming. I felt the plane take a nosedive - it felt like it was at the top of a rollercoaster, and then it flattened out again."

The incident took "split seconds", Jokat said.

Afterwards, a few doctors on board "patched up" the injured, with the assistance of the flight crew.

There were "some seriously injured people", he said - some had broken bones, while others had neck and head injuries.

Jokat said the pilot came to the back of the plane once the plane landed.

"I asked him 'what happened?' and he said to me 'I lost my instrumentation briefly and then it just came back all of a sudden'.

"I know he felt really bad for everyone."

Another passenger, Valentina, said the plane "just stopped" about 50 minutes out of Auckland.

"People were flying around and everything was super scary," she said.

"Blood was on the ceiling, people [flew] and broke the ceiling of the plane."

Valentina said she was "very scared" to get on a flight again.

She received minor injuries during the ordeal, but had been treated and was doing OK, she said.

50 patients treated, 12 hospitalised

St John Ambulance said it was notified of the incident at 3.58pm on Monday.

It sent 14 units including seven ambulances, two operations managers, two Major Incident Support Team vehicle, one Command Unit, and two rapid response vehicles rushed to Auckland International Airport.

"Our ambulance crews assessed and treated approximately 50 patients, with one patient in a serious condition and the remainder in a moderate to minor condition," St John Ambulance said.

"Twelve patients were transported to hospital - 10 were taken to Middlemore Hospital, including one patient in a serious condition, one patient was transported to Auckland City Hospital in a moderate condition, and one patient was taken to Starship Hospital in a moderate condition."

Auckland Airport said in a statement its emergency service team "responded to a request for medical support" from the LATAM flight.

The plane involved was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

It landed at Auckland Airport about 4.30pm as scheduled.

Ongoing flight cancelled

LATAM Airlines Group said it regretted the "inconvenience and injury" the situation had caused its passengers.

The plane's next flight to Santiago - originally due to leave Auckland Airport at 6.40pm on Monday - had been cancelled.

A new flight - LA1130 - had been scheduled for Tuesday, departing Auckland at 8pm for Santiago.

"LATAM is providing affected passengers with food and accommodation services due to the flight cancellation."

Three crew members were among those transported to hospital, the airline said.

LATAM is Chile's national airline and flies frequently between Auckland and Santiago.

Problems with Dreamliners overseas

It is not yet known what caused the "technical problem" on the flight to Auckland.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration last week reported an issue with Boeing Dreamliners' de-icing systems, according to CNN.

The administration said a damaged seal could impact an engine inlet, risking serious damage to the plane.

The issue was moving through the administration's standard process for "developing airworthiness directives", CNN said, which meant it did not believe the issue was severe enough to pull the planes from service.

Boeing's 737 Max has also come under scrutiny after an emergency exit blew out after taking off from Portland, Oregon on 5 January.

That plane landed quickly and no-one was hurt.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson said the authority was aware of the incident.

"The immediate response was handled by Auckland Airport alongside emergency services.

"The incident has not yet been formally reported to CAA, though we would expect this in the coming days in accordance with CAA rules."

When the report was received, the authority would work with the operator to find out exactly what happened and why, the spokesperson said.

It would also determine "whether any subsequent actions are necessary from a safety perspective".